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1 1 (February 27, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govekry0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congre &conaI Resedrch Ser/c< hnorming Ahej lgs ive debate s 'ne 1914 0 February 27, 2023 Preventing Improper Payments: Lessons from Using Data Matching in Pandemic Relief Program Oversight For the past several decades, data matching has enabled the use of government data to identify fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in benefit programs. Data matching is the comparison of different datasets to identify similarities in the records each dataset contains. Matches can be made using one or more data elements, such as name, address, email, bank account number, internet protocol address, or Social Security number (SSN). Oversight of federal funding for pandemic relief programs is a recent demonstration of how data matching can be used to detect improper payments. An improper payment is a payment that should not have been made, either in its entirety or in the wrong amount. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) as part of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). The PRAC is responsible for providing transparency and oversight of pandemic programs and expenditures. Since 2020, oversight agencies, including the PRAC, have identified tens of billions of dollars of COVID relief funding that may have been compromised by potential fraud, waste, or abuse. One way the PRAC has worked to detect improper payments is through data matching using a data platform it developed. The chair of the PRAC testified that this data platform gives the PRAC access to more than 150 million records to detect improper payments across a number of pandemic relief programs. This In Focus discusses the data platform established by the PRAC, the risk of improper payments in pandemic programs, and how, according to the PRAC and agency inspectors general (IGs), data matching can be used to prevent improper payments. There are several issues Congress might consider on the use of data matching in detecting and preventing improper payments. Pandemic Anaiytics Center of Excellence The PRAC has the statutory authority to conduct and support oversight of all pandemic spending across executive agencies. To support this role, the CARES Act extended to the PRAC the authority given to IGs, including to access agency records and request information to carry out its responsibilities (134 Stat. 537; 5 U.S.C. App. §6). In August 2021, the PRAC established the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE), a data platform managed by the PRAC's chief data officer in coordination with the chief information officer. CIGIE has issued several contracts to support PACE's technology and data infrastructure and its various analytic capabilities. PACE's operation broadly enables data sharing and data analytics across IGs and law enforcement and assists in investigations and audits of pandemic relief programs. PACE is used to conduct data analysis, including data matching and network analysis, and to develop data services, including natural language processing and risk modeling. PACE supports the investigative work of IGs and the PRAC Fraud Task Force by uncovering potential fraud and investigating leads. For instance, PACE matched Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) data from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to create fraud risk scores for both individuals and specific applications. PACE has also developed a model for the Department of the Treasury to score the risk associated with 79,000 prime and subrecipient awards to state and local governments under the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). Treasury has used these scores to focus its reviews on higher-risk CRF awards. A Data Platform for Oversight Is Not New. PACE is modeled after practices developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board's Recovery Operations Center (ROC), which supported oversight of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). ROC demonstrated that the government could better detect improper payments through data matching. A report from the Government Accountability Office stated that preservation of ROC's capabilities could help sustain oversight of federal expenditures in general. Although Congress authorized Treasury to take over ROC, it was dissolved in 2015, effectively terminating the capacity and expertise developed by ROC. While the PRAC is scheduled to sunset in 2025, PACE could become a long-term data platform for the IG community. Risk of Improper Payments in Pandemic Programs Congress provided over $5 trillion for the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. The amount of funding appropriated, the scope and complexity of key relief programs, and the focus on rapid disbursement of funds to businesses and individuals all contributed to the risk of improper payments for pandemic programs. Another risk factor for improper payments in some pandemic relief programs, such as the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, was the role of states in their administration. According to the IG

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